Spray is better than a shot in the arm

December 21, 2005|DAVID RUMBACH Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- Young patients of the South Bend Clinic helped prove that an influenza vaccine that's spritzed in the nose works better than one that's shot in the arm with a needle. For two years the nasal vaccine, brand name FluMist, has been available for people between the ages of 5 and 49. Eighteen patients of Dr. Nerida Bates, a pediatrician at the clinic, took part in a trial last flu season. It was designed to show that the vaccine works in young kids 6 months to 5 years of age. All of the participants received both a spray in the nose and an intramuscular injection, Bates said. But only one of the two -- either the shot or the spray -- contained flu vaccine while the other was a placebo. The local children in the study were among 8,492 in 16 countries around the world who participated in the trial, which was sponsored by MedImmune, the maker of FluMist. Preliminary results released last week by the company show that FluMist is more effective than injectable vaccine, said Dr. James Harris, an allergist at the clinic. About 2 percent of the children in the trial who received shots came down with flu despite being vaccinated. A lower percentage of kids who had received FluMist, 1.4 percent, contracted "breakthrough'' flu. MedImmune plans to seek FDA approval for the young age group in time for next year's flu season. Bates said FluMist is more effective because it contains a live virus, which provokes a stronger response by the person's immune system. The regular flu shot contains a killed virus. The live virus in FluMist is weakened so that it's unlikely to give people a dangerous case of the flu, Harris said. Bates said she strongly urges parents to give a flu vaccine to their children 24 months old and younger, down to 6 months of age. That age group is especially vulnerable to becoming dangerously ill from a flu virus or even dying. About 2 percent of children younger than 1 year old who contract the flu wind up being hospitalized, she said. The hospitalization rate is about 1 percent for children between 1 and 2. "Kids under 2 have a distinct increase in complications,'' Bates said. Although FluMist spares a child from being stuck with a needle, it's not pleasant. Some people say they get a bitter taste in the back of the throat from this medicine. Parents of children enrolled in the trial agreed to bring their kids back to the clinic every time the youngsters had a runny nose, sneezing, wheezing, coughing or other respiratory symptoms. The children were then tested to determine if they had been infected with a flu virus. Some parents had to bring their children back eight or nine times for these tests, Bates said. The average was about 3 visits. Staff writer David Rumbach: drumbach@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6358